Will this be a season Cowboys fans can celebrate or another year in which planning for the playoffs blow up in their faces? DMN beat writer Brandon George takes a look at each game on the Cowboys schedule to determine how Dallas will do this season.

No one can deny
the Cowboys’ appeal. No one can argue with the success of a franchise that has
collected more Super Bowl trophies than 18 organizations combined.

But what
happens when success wanes? How long can you remain relevant and continue to
tell fans you matter before you become Jacksonville?

Stings, doesn’t
it?

The cold, hard
truth is the Cowboys aren’t all that different than the Jaguars. That is what
an analysis of key, competitive results over the last 16 years shows.

It hasn’t
always been this way. Jerry Jones purchased a franchise that was near the top
of the NFL and ushered it to even greater heights. But the Cowboys haven’t won
a Super Bowl since 1996 and have only one playoff win this century.

In a metric
designed to determine success on the field, the Cowboys edged out the Jaguars
by one-tenth of a point. Dallas is the 10th-most successful franchise by
SportsDay’s measure since Jones’ team last won the title.

If another blow
to the owner’s ego is required, his team finished third in the division in this
time period behind the New York Giants (ninth) and Philadelphia Eagles (fifth).

It should be
pointed out — and Jones would be the first to do so — that the Cowboys have
some factors working in their favor that the Jaguars don’t.

Fans come to
mind.

There is an
intense interest in all things Cowboys. This is not your typical NFL franchise.
A humble beginning followed by years of excellence, excess and marketing
vaulted this team into elite company.

America’s Team?
That is the phrase of a bygone era and one with limits. These Cowboys are a
global brand that consistently rank just behind Manchester United as the most
valuable sports property on the planet.

The reach of
this team is pervasive and shows up in ways you wouldn’t expect. Head coach
Jason Garrett received a reminder of that this summer when he picked up a copy
of The New York Times.

There, under a
front page headline on the election in Mexico, was the photo of a woman casting
her vote.

She wore a
Cowboys jersey.

People vote
constantly with their TV sets. That’s another measure of the team’s immense
popularity.

But people also
watch a lot of reality TV. Are the Cowboys viewed as a team of substance or are
they the NFL equivalent of the Kardashians?

There is a fine
line the Cowboys walk after years of postseason failure. The club must
acknowledge and tap into its rich history but strip away the sense of
entitlement. This has been one of Garrett’s priorities since taking over as
head coach nearly two years ago.

The brand

Jones’ charge
is to ensure he doesn’t allow the Cowboys brand to diminish.

“I think Green
Bay’s got a certain aura and not just because they’re winning right now,’’
Jones said.

“When I first
came in the league, Green Bay was having a tough time making the playoffs. Yet
I don’t know that they lost a lot of that aura. It was important in my mind
during those years for Green Bay to basically have the mentality that, ‘Hey, we
get the right guys in the right spot, and we can compete.’

“I don’t think
that it’s uncommon for a team that’s won several Super Bowls or is a team that
has a national following — and we do, we have all of that — to have higher
expectations. I think that’s very appropriate.’’

Jones made a
rare admission one afternoon during training camp in Oxnard. He acknowledged
there have been years he harbored Super Bowl aspirations, and sold that to the
fans, when it was not a legitimate goal.

News alert:
salesman finds way to push his product regardless.

“There have
been some years when we weren’t in good shape at quarterback, you could
distinguish goal from expectations pretty easily,’’ Jones said.

There is a
difference between expectation, goals and hope. The Cowboys and their fans
expected to reach the Super Bowl in the 1990s. It was a legitimate goal.

They don’t
expect to reach the Super Bowl these days. They hope to return. There is no
concrete evidence to suggest this team is close to recapturing its past glory.

That doesn’t
mean Jones will put aside his rose-colored glasses.

Jones purposely
creates expectations and is unapologetic about it. He will argue that Tony Romo
adds legitimacy to his claims.

Here’s the
important thing to remember. He doesn’t make those comments as a general
manager. It’s not an assessment of the team’s talent level as much as it is an
attitude.

“I do that
deliberately because I want our fans and I want people to be excited about the
prospect of the team,’’ Jones said. “That gets fuzzy sometime between being
able to factually as GM or factually as owner to say that we have a good enough
team to do it.

“But since you
really see how Super Bowl contenders come from nowhere, and that’s been the
history over the last 10 years, then I think most teams could have a goal of
the Super Bowl.’’

High expectations

Marketing 101?
Jones contends it’s much more.

“Everybody
wants their fans to be excited about their team,’’ Jones said. “If you’ve gone
out and spent $150 million, then you should maybe have some goal of the Super
Bowl.’’

There was no
Super Bowl goal to start the 2000 season. The Cowboys pushed the reset button
on fiscal responsibility and turned the team over to Dave Campo to take the
hit.

Three
consecutive seasons of 5-11 began to erode the aura Jones cherishes. He needed
credibility. Jones installed Bill Parcells as head coach and stepped aside to
concentrate on getting a new stadium built while Parcells got the team back on
its feet.

A franchise can
be bad for a few years and retain its mystique. It can’t be abysmal. It can’t
afford to go an extended period when it’s not part of the conversation.

The NFL is
about parity. That parity allows the Cowboys to argue they are close as long as
they bob around .500.

Is there a
better example than the current Super Bowl champion? The New York Giants
finished with a 9-7 record. They had to beat the Cowboys in the final game of
the regular season to make the playoffs.

The Cowboys,
with their rich history, are insulated from dwindling interest as long as they
remain competitive deep into December.

This franchise,
with Jones as owner, will always emphasize expectations over reality.

“I know that
coaches generally play it down,’’ Jones said. “And we all know why. Because
they don’t want expectations up there and [have it] impact their job.

“I’m the
opposite. I’m in the business of wanting people to be excited about our team.
So just because you don’t meet those goals or don’t get in a Super Bowl, and
that hurts your credibility, I’ll take that as opposed to starting the season
off and not expecting to compete.’’

Selling points

Jones knows his
words ring hollow with every season the Cowboys are competitively irrelevant
once the calendar turns to January. Many now simply shake their heads and roll
their eyes upon hearing his proclamations.

That’s fine
with Jones. As long as this team retains its market share and remains in the
public consciousness, he’s convinced the reality will once again match the
rhetoric.

The Dallas
Cowboys are not Jacksonville, no matter what the last 16 years show.

“The real world
in the NFL goes to what that score is in terms of the numbers of wins. So I
could be the most persuasive individual in the world and get everybody believing
they’ve got it done right now and it doesn’t matter when we play.

“But I do think
we have a right to get excited about the team this year.’’

And what if
this team falls flat again?

Well, Jerry
Jones will tell you why you have a right to be excited about next year’s team.

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.